


Do You Live Here?

by applejuiceandpeach



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam needs a hug, First Kiss, Happy ending though, Kissing, M/M, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Swearing, brief mention of child abuse, everyone always needs a hug, kinda goes by fast, slight angst, so does ronan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 13:30:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17447900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/applejuiceandpeach/pseuds/applejuiceandpeach
Summary: “We have very thin walls and I heard you crying in the shower, you okay?”





	Do You Live Here?

**Author's Note:**

> hi !! i wrote this a few months ago because my friend wanted me to show her my writing so this is pretty rushed but i felt the urge to publish something for validation and !! here we are. thank you for reading !! (make sure to read the tags for trigger warnings)

Adam Parrish had known that his parents were going to be angry with him after he said that he was going to attend Aglionby Academy, but he still had a shred of hope that they would take the news well. To him, his entire life was a shred of hope. He had a shred of hope that his family truly loved him. He had a shred of hope that maybe he could leave Henrietta behind one day and never look back. He had a shred of hope that one day he’d lose his  _ damn accent _ . 

The shred of hope that he felt at that moment, sitting on a hospital bed, eyes trained on a poster on the wall in front of him about the human body, was that he’d be able to hear out of his left ear again. Like his other hopes, he knew in his heart that it would never happen. 

~~~

Ronan Lynch hated school. He knew that it was pointless for him to be there. He got by with shoddy Latin and did what he didn’t want to do to get by in the rest of his classes. There was still no reason for him to attend. He knew what he was doing for the rest of his life and he was content with that. He didn’t need an education for that. Gansey had continuously pushed him to try harder and “just apply yourself”, pleasing Ronan’s older brother, Declan. 

Declan had always done what he could to keep Ronan in line. That was easier when he, and their youngest brother, Matthew, were all living under the same roof. That was easier when their dad was still alive. 

~~~

“You know, you don’t have to be such an asshole all the time,” Ronan heard the words but didn’t care. Kavinsky was pissed at him again for turning down his offer to go street racing. Ronan hadn’t gone in three months. He didn’t think that he would ever want to go again. “Fuck, you’ve changed, Lynch. Ever since that father of yours died you’ve become such a buzzkill.” 

Ronan’s heart usually raced at the sound of Kavinsky’s Bulgarian accent, curling his words into something entirely his own, but now he felt red heat filling up his senses. 

“Shut the fuck up about my father,” Ronan said, refusing to look away from Kavinsky. This would’ve unnerved others, but Kavinsky himself was a master at making others feel uncomfortable, and was practically immune to it. 

Kavinsky let out a maniacal laugh and said, “What are you going to do? Run back home? Or are you going to cry about it to dear old Dick?” 

Ronan felt his jaw clench. He could hear Gansey’s voice in his ears telling him to not waste his time. Instead of responding he just walked away. 

When he got back to his dorm he could still feel blood pounding in his ears. Instead of slamming things around like usual or speeding away in his BMW, he did something he remembered from one of his dreams. In it, he was a raging mess, pissed at his family and Gansey and Noah and everyone. Instead of taking the hits that Ronan threw to Cabeswater, or inserting a Night Terror, the sky broke and showered Ronan in hot water. He stood there for the first minute, soaking it all it. It had never done this before. Before he knew it he started crying, allowing himself to feel in this powerful way. Months of turmoil had escaped him as he stood there under the rain. He didn’t feel like going back to Cabeswater right now. He didn’t want to risk dealing with a Night Terror, so, he did the next best thing. 

By the time the shower was warm enough, tears were already running down his face. He was just so angry all the time and he didn’t like it. Gansey had known that this was Ronan: After and it would be a long time, if ever, he would see Ronan: Before. Gansey would stick by his side though, no matter what, and Ronan knew that. No one else understood Gansey’s obsession with Owen Glendower, and Ronan still didn’t, but he rarely questioned him or made him feel insignificant for it. 

His thoughts went running back to his father, and his heart seized, tears pouring down faster. It was almost as though his body couldn’t take it, his limbs shaking in an unstaid manner. He lifted his right fist and pounded it once on the shower wall yelling out a loud curse. Just as he sucked in a breath he heard movement coming from the other side of the wall. Someone was knocking. 

“Are you okay in there?” Said a tentative voice with a clipped Henrietta accent. 

Ronan shut off the shower and grabbed a towel, quickly drying off and throwing his clothes on. He got in his car as quickly as he could and drove to Monmouth Manufacturing where he would help Gansey with his cereal box model of the town.

~~~

Ronan didn’t make it back until early the next morning to change into his uniform and grab his books for class. He was almost out the door again when he saw a slip of paper a foot or two away from the door. On it written in a unkempt scrawl was the message 

_ I’m in the room next door and I heard you crying and I just wanted to make sure that you’re alright. I’m sorry if I intruded on anything.  _

“Well fuck,” Ronan muttered, shoving the note in a book on his desk. He didn’t know if he should respond or not. He spent the school day thinking about, avoiding any and all classwork. 

By the time he got back to his room he had already known what he was going to say. 

~~~

Adam was exhausted when he got back to his room after his shift at Boyd’s. It was a particularly draining day and he had to deal with more than one stubborn customer. He was ready to just go to sleep, but he still had a mountain of homework that he knew would keep him awake through the early hours of the morning. 

When he got inside, he spotted a piece of paper on his floor, almost identical to the one he wrote the day before. It read, 

_ You don’t need to take care of me. I’m fine. _

The first thing that ran through Adam’s mind was that whoever he was talking to was  _ not _ fine. 

He heard the cries of sorrow and he wanted to do whatever he could to make sure he didn’t have to hear it again. At least, not hear it on the other side of a wall. At first, when his ear picked up on it, he couldn’t tell what it was. Adam’s heart clenched for a moment, thinking that he had heard it in his left ear, but touched it again and felt nothing. He moved closer to the noise and stood next to the shower, pressing his right ear against the wall. He waited for a minute and just heard the sobs of a boy who sounded broken and defeated. Just as he was about to move away, he felt a slam on the wall and he jerked back, stumbling away. His heart was pounding with adrenaline as he told himself over and over, “You’re safe.” Adam reminded himself of that when he slid the note under the door.

~~~

(time skip to when they’ve been talking like this for a few weeks)

Adam had just ended his last shift of Saturday at one of his jobs, his body feeling sore and out of place in the expansive hallways. He smiled a bit, thinking about the note that he received that morning, saying that whoever he was talking to cared about him. Never in his life had anyone told him that, and though it was only over letter, it still meant the world to him. 

Just as he put his key in his door, he heard footsteps fast approaching. He looked to his left and saw an intimidating boy around his age with piercing blue eyes and a shaved head. Adam could just make out the tips of a tattoo peeking out of his shirt. 

Adam’s mouth went dry and he fumbled with the lock even more. The boy stopped in front of him and Adam almost cursed, not knowing what was going to happen. He didn’t want a fight to break out and he couldn’t tell if he even did anything wrong. 

“Do you live here?” 

Adam blinked. 

“Um, is that a trick question?” 

“That’s not a fucking answer.” 

Adam looked away from his eyes and said, “Yeah, I do live here.” 

“Fuck. I live there,” He pointed to the door to the door next to Adams, the same door Adam had stopped in front of dozens of times to slide a note under the door. 

“Oh.” 

“Do you want to, um, come over to my place for a bit? We don’t have to do anything but it would be nice to talk.” The boy said, rubbing at the leather bracelets that lined his wrist. 

“I can be over in ten minutes. I just had a shift at the factory and I need a shower,” Adam shifted his weight to each foot, his fingers picking at the inside of his coat pocket. 

“Okay,” He breathed out a sigh of relief and rushed into his room to make it look slightly presentable. The first thing that he would have to explain was the baby raven that sat in a soundproof cage next to his bed. Both taken from his dreams. This was going to be fine. 

~~~

By the time Adam was done he was able to really process what was going on, he was ready to stay in his room the whole night and not go next door. 

_ What if when he gets to know me he doesn’t want to talk to me.   _

_ What if things are weird and awkward and he hates me.  _

_ What if it goes well and he wants us to be something more.  _

_ I don’t even know his fucking name what the fuck is going on. _

Adam walked out of his door, feeling his pulse throb throughout his body. He knocked and heard muffled swearing before the door opened. 

“Um, come in,” He said, stepping back from the door and looking at a spot below Adam’s eyes, not being able to make eye contact. 

The two stood there for a moment after Adam closed the door, not saying anything. Then, both began to speak at once. 

“I meant what I said this morning,” Came out of the other’s mouth as Adam said, “What’s your name?” 

“Oh, I’m Ronan.” 

_ Ronan _ . Adam felt his heart drum faster. 

“I’m Adam.” 

“I really did mean it, Adam. I care a lot about you,” Ronan’s voice shook. 

Adam stayed quiet. He opened and closed his mouth, not knowing how to respond. “I care about you too, for what it’s worth.” 

Ronan let out a small laugh, something entirely too small and delicate to come out of the mouth of a boy that had such sharp and steely edges. 

“We can sit, if you want,” Ronan made a vague gesture with the tilt of his head at the bed that sat across from them. They sat on opposite ends, feeling less nervous than they did a few moments earlier. 

“I don’t want to mess things up,” Ronan said, fiddling with a pillow cover. “I really, really like you, Adam. More than I should,” 

Adam’s mouth felt dry. “You aren’t going to mess things up. I really like you too.” 

Ronan nodded, moving closer to Adam. 

“I want to kiss you.” 

Adam moved up to Ronan, and kissed him. 

When he was a kid, Adam had distinct memories of feeling free in his own home. He would get this feeling a few times a week when both of his parents were gone and he was free to sit in the living room without being criticized. He felt more comfortable in his skin than he ever did with his family there. 

That was what kissing Ronan was like. Ronan was soft and comforting, nothing like the fast intensity that Adam had begun to associate him with. Ronan lowered Adam so he was hovering over him, his hands resting softly at Adam’s arms. Ronan left soft kisses against Adam’s jaw, and Adam decided that he never wanted to leave that room. He wanted to stay there forever with Ronan and not care about working or money or his parents. He just wanted to be with Ronan. 

 


End file.
